Instructions

ZOOM IN by clicking on the page. A slider will appear, allowing you to adjust your zoom level. Return to the original size by clicking on the page again.

MOVE the page around when zoomed in by dragging it.

ADJUST the zoom using the slider on the top right.

ZOOM OUT by clicking on the zoomed-in page.

SEARCH by entering text in the search field and click on "In This Issue" or "All Issues" to search the current issue or the archive of back issues
respectively.

PRINT by clicking on thumbnails to select pages, and then press the
print button.

SHARE this publication and page.

ROTATE PAGE allows you to turn pages 90 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise.Click on the page to return to the original orientation. To zoom in on a rotated page, return the page to its original orientation, zoom in, and
then rotate it again.

CONTENTS displays a table of sections with thumbnails and descriptions.

ALL PAGES displays thumbnails of every page in the issue. Click on
a page to jump.

THE AUSTRALIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT YEARBOOK EDITION 23 • 249
WASTE MANAGEMENT
By consolidating
and analysing
data from waste-
collection stations,
the software
helps councils
to optimise bin-
collection routes
and minimise
overflowing, visible
waste
Hayes says that Bigbelly Solar
Compactors, the world's first connected,
solar-powered waste stations, are
revolutionising waste management. More
than 45,000 of them have been deployed
across the United States, the United
Kingdom, Europe and Asia since Bigbelly
Solar invented the product in the United
States in 2003. Solar Bins Australia, the
exclusive partner of Bigbelly Solar USA in
this country, has customised the product
for local conditions.
The waste stations have several
advantages over standard council rubbish
bins. By compacting at the source, the
high-capacity waste station (600 litres) has
about five times the litter capacity, when
full, of a standard wheelie bin, and up to
eight times that of a normal street bin.
Bigbelly sensors send an alert by
email or text when the bin is
85 per cent full, and council operators
can access real-time data on fill levels of
all bins using Solar Bins Australia's CLEAN
Management Console via desktop
and/or smart phone. By consolidating
and analysing data from waste-collection
stations, the software helps councils
to optimise bin-collection routes and
minimise overflowing, visible waste.
'The data is incredibly powerful and
easy to use,' says Hayes. 'We see councils
reduce their collections by up to 80 per
cent in most areas, and substantially
reduce the number of rubbish trucks
on their roads after installing our waste
stations. The cost saving for a council with
hundreds of bins that are collected each
day is significant.'
The Nambucca Shire Council in
northern New South Wales was emptying
every bin seven days per week, even
though some were almost empty, and
driving up to 200 kilometres to collect
some bins. The council had the foresight
to introduce Bigbelly Waste Compactors
on Nambucca's main street, some of its
popular parks and on the river foreshore.
It now has 29 Bigbelly stations from an
initial six in September 2014. 'Where we
were emptying the bins every day, we
are now, in some cases, getting seven
days out of the bins,' says Paul Gallagher,
Nambucca Shire Council Assistant
General Manager of Engineering Service.
'In other high-use areas, like the main
street, we are emptying them every
second day.'
Significant waste-management
opportunity for councils
Solar Bins Australia has built a strong
reputation over the past four years.
The business was formed when Hayes,
a successful entrepreneur known
for commercialising first-to-market
technologies, saw an opportunity in
waste-management technology.
'At the time, Australia was well
behind several other countries in using
internet-connected devices to make
waste-management collection more
efficient. Too many of our organisations
were still doing the traditional "milk run":
having the same trucks picking up the
same bins at the same time each week,
regardless of how full they were.'
Hayes saw several opportunities for
councils. The first was helping them to
better understand and manage their
rubbish-bin inventory.
Solar Bins Australia founder and Managing Director Leon Hayes